The ability to detect extremely small numbers of analytes can be useful in a variety of applications. For example, the detection of cancer-associated proteins, or biomarkers, in blood samples is a potentially powerful tool for early diagnosis of cancer and monitoring of cancer treatment. Additionally, ultrasensitive detection can aid in the identification of unknown biological material. In these and other applications, it could be desirable to perform very sensitive biomarker detection with very small volumes of biological samples.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.